Chapter 123 - 121: A Special Fetish
"Zhang Qingzhi forced me to do it. She’s the one who told me to drug Ruan Zhixia’s drink.
My son was tricked by Zhang Qingzhi, too. She lied and said she’d marry him, and that’s how she got him to go after Ruan Zhixia."
"So, what did you do to Ruan Zhixia that night?"
Chen Meihua’s eyes darted around. "Wh-what else could it be?"
Zhou Tiancheng slammed his hand on the table in fury. "You people are completely lawless! You deserve what’s coming to you! You criminals..."
"Ahem, Tiancheng, watch your words," his colleague beside him gently reminded.
Speechless, Zhou Tiancheng took a deep breath and sat back down. "What was the conflict between Zhang Qingzhi and the others?"
"Guo Tianqi liked Ruan Zhixia, Zhang Qingzhi liked Guo Tianqi, and Yang Ziyi has been overshadowed by Guo Tianqi ever since they were kids."
Furious, Zhou Tiancheng stood up, walked out, and punched the wall. An innocent life was destroyed, all because of jealousy.
Zhou Tiancheng stared at the large characters on the wall, his eyes nearly bursting with rage, forcing himself to calm down.
"I’ll beat you to death, you animal! You’re fucking insane! Why didn’t the worms bite you to death, you son of a bitch bastard!"
Zhou Tiancheng turned his head to look at the interrogation room next door. Zhao Shuo had grabbed Yang Ziyi by the collar and was pinning him to the floor, beating him senseless.
Suddenly, Zhou Tiancheng didn’t feel so bad anymore.
"Police! The police are hitting... hitting people! They’re... they’re killing someone!"
Yang Ziyi struggled and screamed, "Someone help!"
"Zhao Shuo, that’s enough!" The officers nearby rushed in to break up the fight, and Zhao Shuo was quickly pulled out.
Zhao Shuo was so angry he was out of breath. "Yang Ziyi conspired with Zhang Qingzhi to drug Ruan Zhixia, and then Zhang Qingzhi had Sun Cong and the others take Ruan Zhixia and..."
He got so enraged he couldn’t finish, charging back in to land a few more blows on Yang Ziyi before being pulled out again.
Zhang Qingzhi’s legs went weak with fear, and she collapsed to the floor. ’It’s over,’ she thought. ’It looks like the police know everything.’
Ji Qinghe walked up to Zhang Qingzhi with a cold expression. "Where is Ruan Zhixia’s body?"
"In... in the mountains." As Zhang Qingzhi spoke, she broke into a maniacal laugh. "Out in the barren wilderness, she’s probably been eaten by wolves by now.
She loved playing the White Bone Demon so much, maybe now she’s really become a pile of white bones!"
"Zhang Qingzhi, you did this to Ruan Zhixia just because you were jealous? You’re a woman too, how could you..."
Having nothing left to lose, Zhang Qingzhi decided to go all in. "If you have to blame someone, blame her for always stealing my things! Stealing my roles, stealing my man.
If I hadn’t been in such a hurry, I would have skinned her alive!"
Guo Tianqi heard this sentence the moment he walked into the police station, and his hands, hidden beneath his sleeves, clenched into fists.
"Zhang Qingzhi, Zhixia never wanted to take anything from you. As for the roles you mentioned, did you think they were so easy to get?
Li Chang acted strict but kind on the surface, but in private, he was as disgusting as they come.
He used nightly rehearsals as an excuse to grope Zhixia. Everything you’re talking about was forced on her by Li Chang!"
Guo Tianqi stared at Zhang Qingzhi, his eyes bloodshot. "Zhang Qingzhi, you knew I liked Zhixia, yet you still forced your way in.
Are you really that shameless? You just had to have the whole troupe revolve around you, didn’t you? Wasn’t it enough to watch Yang Ziyi and the others fight to the death over you?
Why don’t you take a shoehorn and slap some sense into yourself, you bitch!"
Guo Tianqi looked at the bruised and swollen Yang Ziyi inside the room. "You two are a match made in heaven. One can’t live without a man, and the other has a cuckold fetish. No wonder you’re together. Messing around like that, aren’t you afraid of catching something?!
Zhang Qingzhi, Yang Ziyi, just you wait for Zhixia to come back and claim your lives!"
Chen Kai, who had followed him in, chimed in, fanning the air in front of his nose. "Ew, gross. Good thing this troupe was just a temporary gig, or you two would have ruined it, too."
The corners of Zhou Tiancheng’s and Ji Qinghe’s mouths twitched. They clearly hadn’t expected the previously quiet Guo Tianqi to have such a venomous tongue.
"Ahem. Guo Tianqi, Chen Kai, we asked you to come in so we could learn more about Ruan Zhixia’s case.
We still haven’t found her body, and we need your cooperation."
Hearing Zhou Tiancheng, Guo Tianqi nodded. "Officer, I’m willing to cooperate. I hope you can find Zhixia and let her... rest in peace."
"Zhixia was three years older than me. I was sent to the opera troupe when I was ten. Li Chang was very harsh; it was common for him to deny us food if we didn’t practice well.
Zhixia was very talented, so she always got to eat. She would share her portion with me. I’m only alive today because of her.
She was a very good person. I was planning to propose to her after this tour was over.
I didn’t go to the party that day because I wanted to surprise Zhixia. But she never came back after that night, and then the things with Li Chang and Li Deming happened."
As he spoke, Guo Tianqi started to choke up. "If I had gone that day, maybe things would have been different."
Guo Tianqi covered his face, his voice filled with anguish. "It’s my fault. It’s all my fault."
Guo Tianqi looked at Zhou Tiancheng with red-rimmed eyes. "Officer, is there anything else you want to ask?"
Zhou Tiancheng glanced at the previous records. "Not for now. We’ll contact you as soon as we have any news."
"Okay." Guo Tianqi stood up and left.
"Li Chang’s Opera Troupe was short-staffed. Li Chang recruited Chen Kai from another troupe. He came to help out because he knew Guo Tianqi."
Lu Xingye showed Zhou Tiancheng the ID that Chen Kai had provided.
"Forensic Doctor Qin said Wang Hua and the others died because of Gu Worms. There are no leads on the killer who used the Gu," Zhao Shuo whispered to the other two, his gaze fixed on Guo Tianqi and Chen Kai.
Yang Ziyi and his group couldn’t have done this to themselves. That only leaves Guo Tianqi and Chen Kai.
"Can Miao Anji help?" Ji Qinghe asked, looking at Zhao Shuo and Lu Xingye.
"Jiang Li was targeted this morning, too. Miao Anji is furious. It’ll probably take Jiang Li herself asking for him to get involved."
Zhao Shuo had seen how Miao Anji acted. Other than Jiang Li, it was useless for anyone else to talk to him. The fact that he hadn’t gone out with Yu Huannian and the others proved it.
Ji Qinghe couldn’t help but smile. "The kid’s really attached to his big sister figure. In that case, let’s ask Jiang Li to do us a favor."
"We’ll probably have to wait until Jiang Li is feeling better," Zhao Shuo said, looking at Ji Qinghe.
"Hold Guo Tianqi and Chen Kai for questioning."
If there was still no progress after twenty-four hours, they would have to let them go.
Guo Tianqi sat under the surveillance camera, holding a paper cup and sipping hot water.
Chen Kai glanced at Guo Tianqi. "Tianqi, we’ve known each other for seven or eight years, haven’t we?"
Guo Tianqi put down his cup and looked at him with a smile. "Yeah, we have. What’s up?"
Chen Kai sighed. ’We’ve known each other for eight years, and I still don’t understand him.’
Guo Tianqi glanced toward the room where Zhang Qingzhi and Yang Ziyi were being held. ’An interest in skinning people... that’s a special kind of hobby.’
Guo Tianqi leaned back in his chair as time ticked by.
Zhang Qingzhi stared ahead, awaiting her sentence. But as she watched, she saw an apparition of Ruan Zhixia appear before her, twisted into the same strange position she had been in before she died.
Remembering how Sun Cong and the others had died, Zhang Qingzhi shrieked in terror. "Police! Where are the police?! Ruan Zhixia is here! Ruan Zhixia is trying to kill me! Ruan Zhixia is trying to kill me!"